Prevalence of American heart association's ¨ Life's Essential 8¨ in a cohort of Latino women.

UNLABELLED

The ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) construct has recently been updated to ¨ Life's Essential 8¨(LE8).

OBJECTIVE

to determine LE8's prevalence and its association with sociodemographic and socioeconomic determinants in a Latino women cohort in Santiago de Chile.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study on 619 women between 35 and 70 years old, representing 1.359.509 women (after expansion factors). LE8 was assessed through a survey on demographic and CV risk factors, as well as anthropometric, blood pressure, and biochemical measurements. The overall LE8 score was estimated for all participants, ranging from 0 to 100 (≥80 points, high CVH and < 50 points, low CVH). Besides, the score for each metric was determined. A descriptive analysis was performed with sample weights for the overall sample, and stratified by age, education, family income level and civil status. A regression analysis was performed adjusted by age group, family income and education level to determine the association of sociodemographic variables with LE8 score.

RESULTS

The mean overall LE8 score was 62.7 points. Only 11.5 % had a high LE8, while 18.2 % had a low score. The best-accomplished metrics were blood glucose and physical activity (PA); the worst were diet and nicotine exposure. The adjusted regression analysis showed significantly higher scores for younger age (+3.2 points for <45yo, p < 0.05) and higher education level (+5 points, p < 0.01 and +12 points, p = 0.000,1 for high school and tertiary education, respectively). Higher LE8 scores in women with high education level were significantly driven by improvements in 5 metrics (lipids, blood pressure, body mass index, diet and PA).

CONCLUSION

Nearly 1 out of 9 women from Santiago had an ideal LE8 score. Years of education are crucial determinants in the fight to get an ideal CVH.